Living Well: Exercise can keep you fit beyond your years

In his 36-foot wooden fishing boat, motoring through the Canadian gulf waters, Jim Spencer proceeded to drop and haul up four bulky prawn traps that were nearly 250 feet deep, rig six fishing rods about 15 times total, climb in and out of the control room dozens of times, plus maneuver around a deck with limited space that included some tight spots because of snaking hydraulic hoses and a couple of 10-year-olds intent on watching his every move.

But Spencer didn't waver for nine-plus hours. Not for a minute, not for a single answer to one of the 10-year-old's constant flow of outdoorsman questions, not during the sightings of porpoises, seals, orcas and eagles.

Impressive energy and stamina and grins. Especially since Jim Spencer turned 80 this year.

For his part, William Evans contends there can be a lot more Jim Spencers out there, whether in Canada or the U.S. Two decades ago, Evans pioneered research on the benefits of resistance training (with barbells as light as a pound or two) for previously physically limited 80- and 90-year-olds.

"One of the main messages in (the aging and exercise) research is that it is never too late for prevention," said Evans, director of the Nutrition, Metabolism and Exercise Laboratory in the Department of Geriatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. "Of course, the earlier you start, the better. But the research shows that even if you wait until past 70 years old to start an exercise program, you will still be able to extend your life expectancy."

What Evans and colleagues have found is that muscle loss is a natural biological process as we grow older. It leads to weakness and compromised balance, along with a general loss of vitality. While aerobic exercise such as walking, running, cycling or swimming can increase life span by lowering risk of heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers, only strength training brings back the muscle power that helps Jim Spencer -- or that older neighbor down the street who still does all of his own yard work -- perform like a man two to three decades younger.

"The best strength training program is one that fatigues your muscle after only 10 lifts," said Evans. "If you can lift the weight 20 times it is too light. You need the right intensity to build functional strength, increase bone density and burn up more calories. And you will feel the increased energy in your daily life."

Yet Spencer and the neighbor in the yard are not lifting weights at a gym or even in their basements. Spencer does his lifting on the boat and the yard specialist is working tools and dirt and the occasional heavy rock (plus, at least in this case, the 83-year-old gent walks and carries his own golf clubs around for nine holes a couple of times each week most months of the year).

Evans is highly regarded in his field, yet the best compliment comes when a new study confirms his earlier work on aging prevention while a researcher at Tufts University in Boston. Just this month, Medical University of South Carolina physician and researcher Dr. Dana King provided more praise with a study published in The American Journal of Medicine.

King and his co-authors found that people 45 to 64 years old significantly dropped their risk for cardiovascular disease and death by more than a third by adopting four healthier habits: eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, exercising 2.5 hours per week, maintaining a body mass index or BMI between 18.5 and 30 and not smoking.

Interestingly, the fruits and veggies number is considerably less than the new federal guidelines of nine servings per day and the BMI number includes people with ratings between 25 and 30 that are officially classified by the federal government as overweight. King said the habit adjustments were "modest" though an ex-smoker who has tried quitting multiple times might argue the point.

An important distinction: King found the study subjects' risk for heart troubles and mortality changed for the better in just four years.

"The findings emphasize middle age is not too late to act," said King.

Nonetheless, King and his fellow researchers did find that adopting all four habits made the difference. Taking up just three of the healthier behaviors, for instance, reduced deaths but didn't significantly decrease cardiovascular episodes that can greatly affect quality of life.

King said consuming the five servings of produce was the easiest behavior for subjects to achieve, while walking 30 minutes a day was enough for the exercise goal. You wonder how those risk-reduction percentages would become even more positive by following Evans' advice to perform some form of strength training.

What's more, the authors found that less than 10 percent of middle-age adults in the U.S. practice these four habits and predicted than only one in 10 of us will be motivated to do the same during middle age. And that's even when making such a quartet of changes can practically "catch up" the former slackers to more fit middle-age individuals who followed those healthy habits as younger adults, said King, at least in terms of cardiovascular disease and life span.

That leaves about 80 percent of middle-age Americans not motivated to adopt those habits. Watching Jim Spencer navigate both the scenic Canadian waters and his Lady Patricia vessel would be enough to change at least some of those minds.